Chapter 51:
Ronnie sighed as he stepped off the city bus, the sounds and smells accosting him. Central City wasn't anything to sneeze at, by any means, but Metropolis was on a whole other level. He slung his bag higher up on his shoulder as he looked out across the sea of people, trying to find a good mark. A pretty blonde walked past in a group of friends and briefly grabbed his attention-- but no, no. His girlfriend would kill him. And anyway, he needed a loner, someone by themselves and not confident of it, maybe someone else new to the city.
Bingo.
His eyes alighted on a man in his maybe early thirties, by himself, looking at a wrinkled map with a bead of sweat on his brow. His brown hair was mussed significantly, a sure sign that he had been nervous and lost for a while now. Ronnie grinned and walked with a purpose in that direction, only to run straight into the man.
“Hey! Watch it--”
“I'm so sorry, my friend,” Ronnie spoke smoothly, placing a sturdy hand on his arm to stabilize him. “Are you alright?”
“N-no thanks to you,” he complained, and bent over to retrieve his map. Ronnie did the same, picking up another paper the man dropped.
“Here, let me get that. I'm sorry, again.”
The man waved him off. “It's fine. I'll live.”
Ronnie grinned. “Good. Hey, this is going to sound random, but do you know what the name of the next cross street is?”
“Uhh,” he twisted the map this way and that, trying to make sense of the directions. Oh, he'd found his mark alright. This was gonna be too easy. “It should be Park. No, no, La Brea?”
Ronnie chuckled. “It's alright, pal. I was just hoping you might be able to help me out.”
“I-I can help you out,” the man stuttered, a note of offense in his tone.
“Hey, I don't need anything from you. I can find my way around.” He gripped the strap on his pack a little tighter. “I was looking to see if anyone knew where the closest cheap room would be is all--”
He hesitated before responding. “Well, I don't know if there's another place around, but I'm staying at this place a few blocks from here.”
Ronnie grinned and clapped the man on the shoulder firmly. “Great! Would you show me where it is, if you don't mind? It'd be a huge favor.”
The hesitation was engraved in worry lines on his face. “I suppose not.”
“Perfect! Name's Ronnie, by the way.”
The man ran a hand through his hair nervously again, and begrudgingly gave his own name. “J-Jordan.”
“Well, I'm glad I ran into you, Jordan.” He grinned and shook the man's hand, making note of the odd looking class ring he wore. He ran his tongue over his teeth and debated just how far he could take this. “And I didn't think I'd make any friends in this city.”
Jordan smiled back at him tremulously, and Ronnie couldn't squash the adrenaline running through his veins. All he needed now was the man's room number and a quick pick pocket, and then he'd be set up for the night. He darted his eyes down to the ring once more, quickly, and dismissed the idea. It probably wasn't worth anything anyway. Besides, he had other things to worry about without this guy putting the cops on his tail. He had to focus if he was going to find Kent.
This trip had better be worth the effort.
*****LnC*****
"You can't stop us, old man!"
"No my dear, you're mistaken. I'm not going to stop you. But the metamide-5 will wear off soon enough, and you won't be much of a threat when that happens, will you?"
Aymee and Patrick shared a look and looked back at the red vial of liquid in his hand, mesmerized.
"There's plenty more where this came from," Nigel added, ensuring their rapt attention instead of just their envy.
"All right, talk. What do you want from us?"
Nigel smiled facetiously. "Oh, nothing much. I just need you to lure a reporter out here— how you do it is at your discretion, but it needs to be someone very specific, and I need you to hand her over to me immediately."
They looked at each other again, minds working quickly, and it was starting to creep Nigel out. This was not a normal project, even if it was a successful one. And like hell were they getting any more of the metamide-5 stuff. It was too wonderful a product, and with Dr. Carlton in jail, it was now a hot commodity. He needed to keep it for himself, stay one step ahead of Kent and Luthor.
Everything was wasted on the young anyway.
"Deal."
*****LnC*****
His breath whiffled softly against the skin at her shoulder. She shivered slightly at the sensation, suddenly awake and alert. She bit her lip as she blinked out at the room. She'd woken up in here once before, but it felt different now. The dark tones of the room that were once imposing were now seductive; the silky satin sheets were luxurious instead of foreign and frigid.
The addition of his arm around her waist was intoxicating.
She hummed under her breath and snuggled deeper against him. He murmured something unintelligible against her ear, and pulled her closer into him. Every point of contact between them sent a shiver down her spine. She reveled in it. Slowly, she became aware that he was awake, his breath coming faster, spaced more evenly. She wrapped a leg between his behind her, and a low growl escaped from his chest. A smile pulled at her lips and she turned in his arms to face him.
"Hi."
"Hi," she replied, her grin starting to feel goofy at the surrealism of the moment. She turned to bury her face in the pillows and he laughed at her softly.
"Oh God," she breathed into the stuffed down pillow. "This doesn't have to be awkward, does it? Can we not be awkward?"
"No! It's not awkward at all."
"Awkward and—"
"-Amazing."
She flushed, glad her face was buried now. She peeked out at him with one eye, and her heart skipped a beat. His big brown eyes were shining at her with something shiny and hopeful and... could it really be love? Did he truly love her? She'd thought he couldn't possibly be serious, before. But he was grinning like an idiot and staring at her with an open expression and a sparkle in his eye that she couldn't put a name to otherwise. It didn't look like lust— she was familiar with that expression now.
God he was cute, with that little flop of hair hanging just over his brow.
He seemed to realize how long he'd been staring at her then, and shifted a little uncomfortably, maybe embarrassed himself. "How about breakfast?" His suggestion took some punch out of the air between them, and she could finally breathe again. "And then maybe we could go for a second round?"
He wagged his brows at her and her giggle burst out of her. "God, I feel like a teenager! Sounds good to me."
"Well if you're so eager, maybe we just skip breakfast—"
Lois put a hand out on his chest and shot him a patronizing glare. He pouted and jostled her against him again, setting her heart thrumming with electricity. "Breakfast. Breakfast sounds good." She gathered up a sheet and slipped out of the bed, prompting a whistle from the peanut gallery. She made her way over to the bathroom before turning back for a second. "Besides," she sniped back at him in a sultry tone, "wouldn't it technically be round four?"
His jovial expression vanished, and there was that look of lust. She winked at him and shut the door on his face, ignoring his groan of frustration.
She couldn't have taken more than three minutes in the bathroom, but when she left the room marginally refreshed, Lois found herself blinking to make sure that she was seeing things correctly. His room was completely cleaned up: bed made, clothes off the floor and magically put away. They'd made a bit of a mess last night, she was a little proud to admit to herself. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the air to greet her, and he rounded the corner with two plates. Lois glanced over her shoulder and back at him, gesturing at the bathroom over her shoulder. "How long was I in there?"
He chuckled lightly and lifted a plate to gesture at the glasses on his face. Her expression must have read as surprise, because his excitement shifted into hesitation. "Is... is that alright? Sorry, I thought you knowing meant you'd figured—"
"No, no. It's perfectly fine. Just... still getting used to it, you know?" Clark slid the plates gently onto his endtable and wiped his palms on his pants. She felt the need to reassure him. "I mean, I know you flew us to the hospital and all, and last night— well, you know how I felt about that— but it's just something that creeps up on you in the everyday stuff."
He sighed with relief and plopped on the bed, and her heart hurt for him a moment— for whoever in his past found out about his abilities and taught him it was bad. She resolved to fix that. She sank onto his side of the mattress and put a hand on his shoulder. "I think it's wonderful, Clark. I'm not just saying that. You could have just kept on hiding it forever, but you chose to use your powers, for good. If I'm completely honest, I'd probably— definitely— misuse that x-ray vision, at least."
He huffed a laugh at that, and nudged his glasses down the bridge of his nose. He gave her a prolonged once-over, and she felt like she was blushing from head to toe. "Don't tempt me."
She mocked affront, and snatched the spectacles off his face while he laughed. She scrutinized them carefully, holding them aloft in the light. She wondered how she'd never noticed it was just plain glass, a little fogged over. "Why the glasses anyway? You don't need them to see, obviously."
He took them gently out of her hands and carefully put them on her face. She grinned up him, the glasses too oversized for her features, and he chuckled and tapped her nose with a finger. A look of sadness creased the corners of his eyes, and he pulled back a second. "It's something I did after I left home growing up. At first it was a way to hide... separate the 'then' from the 'now'. But they kind of became a part of me. I liked the irony of it, hiding in plain sight. Not to mention, it's a nice reminder to not use my powers in public, keep myself in check."
She made a soft, sad sound at the back of her throat, and leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek. He grinned as his glasses jostled against his face, and turned to kiss her more fully. Lois twined her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his hair. She wished she could wish away his sadness, but unfortunately they couldn't change their pasts. She knew that all too well.
Clark pulled back slightly, and took his glasses back off her face. He held them in his hands pensively, lips pursed. Lois clambered over him to reach her plate of food, and he shook himself. "Sorry. I got distracted— eat, please, before it gets cold."
Lois popped a piece of crisp bacon in her mouth and moaned a little at the taste. She hadn't realized just how hungry she was— they did burn a lot of calories yesterday. "It's okay. I'm very distracting, I know."
He smirked at her, and she grinned coquettishly. "Don't I know it."
They ate together in silence peacefully, each deep in their own thoughts. Lois knew they'd have to have a deeper conversation about all this, but so far this morning seemed to be going well. She didn't know what she was expecting, but she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd made an early exit just to avoid it. Maybe he really was in this for the long haul. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously and eyed him carefully as she spoke. "So... where do we go from here, Clark?"
He set his fork down carefully, chewing his food torturously slow. "Honestly? I'm not exactly sure."
That almost dumbfounded her. "All this time you spent pining after me, and you're telling me you don't have a plan for how this is going to work out?"
Clark shrugged and set his plate aside. "I had an idea of a plan. I really never thought it would come to pass." Lois scoffed incredulously. He was unbelievable. "This is really a first for me, you know."
"What is?"
He gestured vaguely through the air. "You, me, this— us. I want us. I want normal. I want normal with you."
Her mouth formed an "o" shape, and she felt like she'd been doused with ice water. What did that mean? He'd never had a real relationship before? Or what? "Haven't you ever been in love before?"
He looked up at the question, arched an eyebrow inquisitively. She flushed and rolled her eyes. "I said before."
He smirked, but the expression fizzled into a sad sort of smile. "Once, I think. When I was young."
"What happened?"
He busied his hands by taking her plate and stacking it on his on the table. Her eyes narrowed a little. He was fidgeting for time. "It's a long story. But it was my fault."
Lois hummed noncommittally, letting his vagueness be for the time being. She'd circle back to this conversation another time. "Funny how things turn out. You think what you have will last forever one minute, then the next you're alone again."
"Lois," he spoke in a low voice, and he turned to face her more fully. "Nothing lasts forever, I know that. But, for as long as possible, I want something real with you. I want to be able to come home to somebody that knows me, really knows me, and to be able to talk about work and our goals and our struggles... Normal stuff. Relationship stuff."
Lois felt her heart swell achingly. His proximity and his enthusiasm were intoxicating. "I want that too."
"I've never had normal," he mused, eyes drifting down to her reddened lips and he swallowed thickly.
"Never?"
His eyes snapped up from her lips suddenly to look her square in the eye, and she saw another spark of sadness there. It made her want to take him in her arms and comfort him. "No. And it's not possible. My life... it will never be normal, Lois. I don't know what I would have to do to make it that way."
Lois moved to a kneeling position on the bed, and took his face between her hands and looked him in the eye. "Then we'll do our best to find our normal."
His eyes fluttered shut, and her heart fluttered along with them. A measure of relief spread across his face, and Lois leaned forward to seal her lips against his. He curled an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, and she stroked her fingers through his hair in a soothing motion.
Clark looked up at her, mouth ajar slightly like he had something to say, when a loud ringing sound cut him off. Startled, he looked over at his dresser, where his cell phone was ringing. He shot her an apologetic look and untangled himself from her gently. Lois plopped back to a seated position on his bed, waiting to find out who dared interrupt their first morning together.
A little thrill ran up her spine at that thought. Their first morning together. A twinge of guilt still pulled at her, but she quickly brushed it away. She wouldn't allow any negative feelings right now. This was the best she'd felt in a long time. It was like they were on a whole other playing field, miles above any of her past relationships. She didn't put a lot of stock in destiny, but they felt like they were meant to be together.
"Yes? Oh, hi Perry. No, uh, no, not a bad time."
Lois arched an eyebrow at him and threw her hands in the air exasperatedly.
He winced and mouthed a quick sorry to her. "Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, no, don't worry about— no, she's fine. How do I uh, what? I, uhm, 'cause she's... here."
She flung a pillow at his head when she pieced together Perry's question, which he promptly caught. He shrugged his shoulders at her and she rolled her eyes, leaping from the bed and holding out a hand for the phone. He shook his head and leaned away with the device. "Yeah, um, I figured she could stay here... for her safety after the whole ordeal—"
"Give me the damn phone," she growled, and finally got him to surrender the device into her custody. She shook her head at him with a scowl. "You're such a bad liar... Hi, Perry."
"Uh, Lois! Surprised to find you there—"
"What do you want, Perry?" she sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You can't be too surprised, you called Kent's phone looking for me."
"I've been calling your place since yesterday, and nothing. I heard about Lucy and a little of what happened. You okay, darling?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Lucy's fine. What do you need?"
"No need to get irascible. Just checking on ya."
"So is there not anything else you called about?"
She was met with silence for a beat, and she looked at Clark pointedly. He was listening too, brow pensive and furrowed. "Well, since you're okay, there is the matter of those missing kids."
Ice ran through her veins, and she sobered up fast. "I know. We've been working on it. We're real close too—"
"Well, I might be closer. We've got one of them here, sitting just outside my office."
Clark stood ramrod straight at those words, the panic and fear swirling with doubt and relief in his dark eyes. Lois put a hand on his chest, stilling him a minute. "Are you sure Perry?"
"Yep. It's the girl. Name's Aymee Valdez."
Their eyes met sharply, and Lois knew what he was thinking immediately. "We'll be over there as fast as we can. Don't lose that girl, Perry!"
She hung up before her boss could get any more words out, and turned to Clark with a slight stammer. "Look, I know it's our first morning together and all, but—"
"We need to go help that girl."
Lois smiled with a sad understanding. They were on the same page. Again. It felt good to be in synch. "Let's get out of here."
*****LnC*****
They entered the bullpen together, but kept an arms' length of distance between them, just to not draw suspicion. Lois' idea. He hated how smart she was; because he knew she was right to keep them as much of a secret as possible, but all he wanted to do was crush her body against his, kiss her in the elevator, up against the wall, maybe even the stair railing...
"Stop picturing me naked and get your head in the game," she murmured under her breath so only he could hear. An amused grin overtook his features for a minute at her words— that she was able to read his mind so well, and that she was already making use of his powers. Of course, now that she'd mentioned it, it was really all he could see. On her desk, on the conference room table, on Perry's desk, in a supply closet, on the copy machine...
"Stop it."
He pouted a little. "Party pooper."
She shot him a glare before opening the door to Perry White's office and he ducked in behind her. Perry and Jimmy and Bill Henderson were all standing around the chair in the center, featuring none other than the young Aymee Valdez. A knot eased in his chest at the sight of her— alive and as far as he could tell unharmed. He breathed a soft sigh of relief.
"Lane, Kent," Perry nodded to each of them passively, as if he hadn't called earlier and found them together. Clark would like to hate the man for interrupting their morning, but he would have been more upset if he hadn't known about Aymee being okay.
Lois knelt down gently to the girl's level in her seat, careful not to make any sudden moves or touch her in any way, which he thought was very considerate. He frowned as the thought developed more. Maybe too considerate. Like she understood what it meant to be in that situation herself, and that didn't sit right with him. "Hello. Aymee, right? I'm Lois Lane. Are you doing alright?"
The young girl swiveled her gaze up to him and Clark schooled his features into a calm, passive smile. The last thing she'd need was any imposing men glaring at her. "Who is he?" she asked, eyes darting away from him quickly and back again.
"That's my partner, Clark Kent."
His eyebrows jumped up to his hairline. Partner? That was a big jump up from unwanted shadow. Clark beamed a little at the monicker, and chose to ignore Lois' responding eye roll. "You know, we spoke with your sister. She's been worried sick about you."
Aymee's eyes tracked back to hers, full of hope and only a small amount of trepidation now. "You saw Ines?"
Lois nodded slowly. "Yes. She misses you. She's never been without her sister before."
Aymee looked to her shoes guiltily, only glanced up to give a wary look to Henderson and then himself again.
"Did you want to tell us what happened? Was there a reason you ran away?"
Stonewalled. The girl didn't make a peep. Lois looked to him for help getting through to her, and Clark nodded. He crouched down as well, so as to not appear as formidable, and tried another tack. "It's very nice to meet you, Aymee. Ines told me lots of fun stories about you guys. I wish I'd had a sister as cool and as loving as you when I was in foster care."
That clicked with the girl, and she looked across at him curiously. "You were in foster care?"
He nodded, not daring to glance up at the stares he knew he'd be getting from the rest of the room. "Oh yeah. When I was nine, and then when I was eleven, until about fifteen, and then about a year and a half more when I turned sixteen. So you can trust me when I say I know how tough it is."
She seemed skeptical of him, something he hadn't expected to find in the eleven year old girl. "Prove it."
Clark gaped at the girl for a minute, trying to come up with something to say that would convince her. "Okay. I don't have any physical proof, really."
"How did you end up in foster care?" she jutted her chin out proudly.
He croaked a little, looking across at Lois this time. She seemed as surprised as he did by the questioning, but a hint of curiosity lined her eyes as well. He supposed it didn't make sense to lie at a time like this, so he provided a sanitized version. "My dad was taken to prison when I was nine. And my mom didn't take it well."
"Did she hurt herself? That's what my mom did."
His stomach flipped, and he looked across at Henderson, who pursed his lips grimly. His heart broke a little more for this girl, and he met her blue gaze with empathy and not sympathy this time. "In some ways, yeah. She did."
Aymee scanned his eyes for any hint of deception, and leaned forward when she couldn't seem to find any. She pat a hand on his knee gently. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I can tell it still bothers you."
Surprise at her reaction ran through him and made him shiver. That was not a normal response from a young girl, whether she sympathized or not. He glanced at Lois sharply, and cleared his throat. "Thank you. Uh— can I ask you a question now?"
She seemed to calculate the danger of that question behind her eyes, and eventually nodded. "Okay."
He suspected he already knew the answer to this question, but he needed to hear her say it. "When Doctor Carlton would see you at school, did he ever give you any medicine?"
Her eyebrows jumped in shock, and she pulled back from him. Her eyes traveled around the room to find everyone's grim, expectant expressions staring back at her. "You guys know about Metamide-5?"
Lois nodded slowly.
Aymee scowled and jumped out of her seat, wearing a completely different attitude now. She flipped her hair out of the collar of her jean jacket and straightened up. "Well, there goes that plan."
Clark stood up as well and took a step back, confusion furrowing his brow. "What?"
"Sorry to waste your time guys. I'll be leaving now."
"Aymee, wait," Lois began, reaching out for the girl. Henderson appeared on edge too, but they were all being too tentative.
Clark physically blocked the door with his body and a frown. "No you will not."
"Out of my way, old man."
He scoffed at that and crossed his arms. She thought she was all that, with her steroids and her attitude and her ability to throw them off track. It ended now. "You want to know something scary, Aymee? Sometimes, smarts isn't all that matters. You can be the smartest person in the room, but that doesn't matter if you're not holding all the cards."
"Kent," Henderson's voice was low with warning, and a tick of irritation pulled at his jaw.
"No. If she wants to think she's an adult, then fine. Let's talk like adults." He looked down at the girl, who shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "Here's how it is, Aymee. We apprehended Dr. Carlton. He's in jail now. So that means no more metamide-5 coming from him, and he's the only guy who can make it. Now, it can't be permanent, or you wouldn't be here, fishing for something so you could get more. So you're going to run out soon, if you haven't already."
"You don't know that. We have another source."
Clark smiled devilishly. "Oh do you now? Let me guess: tall, old, British guy?"
Her smug grin fell away instantly, and Clark took a little pleasure in being able to surprise her like that. Lois' gasp from across the office told him maybe he'd said too much, but these kids were top priority right now. "We want to help you, Aymee. I know you don't like feeling out of control, and Dr. Carlton convinced you that this is the best way to get some of your control back, but he lied. He was performing experiments on you, because he thought nobody was looking and nobody would care. Well guess what? I care. Lois over there cares. Inspector Henderson cares. Ines cares. And if you think being an adult is about taking care of yourself all by your lonesome, then you're not as smart as you think you are."
Tears brimmed in the girl's blue eyes and she wiped them away firmly. "I don't want to be stupid again. I'm sick of being stupid."
Clark shook his head firmly. "You're not stupid, Aymee. You're very smart. Dr. Carlton wouldn't have chosen you for this project if you weren't. And besides, you're just going to go back to normal for a little while, and you'll get smarter every day."
She sniffed and seemed to mull that over. Clark looked around at the room, gauging everyone's reactions. Henderson seemed impressed, but disapproving. Perry and Jimmy were stunned. And Lois was observing pensively, brow knitted like she was still trying to put together a puzzle. He looked back down at Aymee and smiled. "Now why don't you tell us where the other boys are, and we'll help you out."
